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1037847

	registered interest
	date	08/01/2019
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many badgers were vaccinated for TB in the last year for which information is available.
	tabling member constituency	York Outer
	tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
	uin	206346
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/01/2019 answer text <p>Provisional figures for 2017 show 327 badgers were vaccinated under licence from Natural England. The number of BCG doses made available for badger vaccination was limited in 2017 due to a global shortage and the need to prioritise supplies for human vaccination. Global BCG vaccine supply is now improving and although complete figures for the number of badgers vaccinated in 2018 are not yet available, provisional data returned to date indicate that the number will be higher than in 2017.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Camborne and Redruth answering member printed George Eustice question first answered 16/01/2019 17:16:06 answering member 3934 label Biography information for George Eustice
	tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1037858

	registered interest
	date	08/01/2019
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to expand the badger vaccination programme.
	tabling member constituency	York Outer
	tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
	uin	206347
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2019 answer text <p>Landowners and private groups across England can apply to Natural England for a licence to vaccinate badgers against TB. Animal &amp; Plant Health Agency (APHA) provides training for those who wish undertake such vaccination and Defra provides financial support for projects within the Edge Area under the Badger Edge Vaccination Scheme (BEVS).</p><p>BEVS, relaunched in 2018 following a global vaccine shortage, provides matched funding and training for groups that want to take part. Three groups were successful with their applications in 2018. On 13 September 2018 we re-opened the scheme and asked for expressions of interest from those wishing to apply to vaccinate from 2019. The application process closes on 25 January 2019.</p><p>A long-standing research programme at APHA to identify an oral vaccine and a palatable bait in which to deliver it is also ongoing. An efficacy study is currently in progress, with results due later this year.</p><p>We are currently considering the report of the TB Strategy review, conducted by a team led by Professor Sir Charles Godfray, the scope of which includes badger vaccination. A Government response to the review will be published later this year.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Camborne and Redruth answering member printed George Eustice question first answered 15/01/2019 13:42:08 answering member 3934 label Biography information for George Eustice
	tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1641806

	registered interest
	date	05/06/2023
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress she has made on developing a vaccine for cattle against Bovine Tuberculosis.
	tabling member constituency	West Worcestershire
	tabling member printed	Harriett Baldwin
	uin	187630
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/06/2023 answer text <p>Developing a deployable cattle vaccine is one of the Government’s top priorities.</p><p>Defra aims to have a deployable cattle TB vaccine (CattleBCG) in the next few years. In 2021, world-leading cattle TB vaccination field trials began as a result of a</p><p>major breakthrough by government scientists on the development of a new DIVA</p><p>skin test to Detect Infected among Vaccinated Animals.</p><p> </p><p>The UK is closer to being able to vaccinate cattle across England and Wales than we have ever been before but there is still a lot of work to do. Deployment relies on the success of the field trials, achieving Marketing Authorisations from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (for both CattleBCG and the new DIVA skin test), gaining international recognition for both products, an IT system to record and trace vaccinates and acceptance of vaccination from across the range of stakeholders.</p><p> </p><p>Close partnership working with industry is also an essential component of the TB vaccine programme. A Government-industry working group has been established to co-design initial deployment policy proposals. These proposals will then be further developed with wider stakeholders before going to public consultation.</p><p> </p><p>Vaccinating cattle against TB will be a valuable addition to the measures available to achieve bovine TB eradication but will not replace existing control measures. Maintaining biosecurity measures on farm, avoiding risky movements of cattle, and complying with TB testing protocols remain as important as ever in the fight against bovine TB.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 12/06/2023 14:23:41 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4107 label Biography information for Dame Harriett Baldwin

1380119

	registered interest
	date	19/11/2021
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to accelerate the implementation of a badger vaccination strategy alongside improved cattle testing, the roll out of a cattle vaccine and stricter movement of cattle.
	tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
	tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
	uin	78498
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/11/2021 answer text <p>As set out in the Government response to Professor Sir Charles Godfray’s review of the Government’s strategy for achieving Officially Bovine Tuberculosis Free status for England, the next phase of the strategy focuses on developing a deployable cattle vaccine, wider rollout of badger vaccination and improvements to TB testing.</p><p> </p><p>Badger culling will not be halted immediately – as set out in the Government’s response to the January 2021 consultation[1], no new intensive cull licences will be issued after 2022 and new supplementary badger culling licences have been limited to a maximum of two years. Culling would remain an option where epidemiological assessment indicates that it is needed.</p><p> </p><p>We have awarded funding for a five-year badger vaccination programme in East Sussex. The scheme, which will see vaccination deployed by the farming community, will help refine future delivery models for deploying large-scale farmer-led vaccination schemes. We are also undertaking Government-funded badger vaccination in an area where four-year intensive badger culling has ended. We are continuing to bolster our capability to deploy even more badger vaccination in post-cull areas from 2022.</p><p> </p><p>Developing a deployable cattle TB vaccine, with the objective of introduction within the next five years, is one of the Government’s priorities. In 2021, world-leading bovine TB cattle vaccination trials began in England and Wales.</p><p> </p><p>A change from annual to six-monthly routine surveillance testing of cattle herds was introduced in the High Risk Area (HRA) counties of Shropshire and Staffordshire in September 2020 and was extended to the rest of the HRA from July 2021. Herds in the HRA that meet certain risk criteria can remain on annual surveillance testing. In addition, in July 2021 criteria for mandatory use of the more sensitive, supplementary interferon gamma blood test were changed in order to include new breakdown herds in the HRA with lesion and/or culture positive animals that were officially TB free (OTF) for less than eighteen months, following a previous breakdown with lesion and/or culture positive animals. A number of other options for improving the effectiveness of cattle testing, including pre- and post-movement testing, are currently being considered.</p><p> </p><p>[1] <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/bovine-tuberculosis-proposals-to-help-eradicate-disease-in-england" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/bovine-tuberculosis-proposals-to-help-eradicate-disease-in-england</a></p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill question first answered 29/11/2021 17:00:27 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
	tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1382980

	registered interest
	date	29/11/2021
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of widespread vaccination of the UK’s badger population for the purpose of reducing the spread of bovine tuberculosis; what evidence his Department has that vaccination will be effective in protecting livestock on farms in England; and whether his Department will make provisions to retain culling in areas where vaccination does not prove effective.
	tabling member constituency	Torridge and West Devon
	tabling member printed	Sir Geoffrey Cox
	uin	83273
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/12/2021 answer text <p>Evidence indicates that vaccination reduces disease burden in the badger population, with field trials showing that vaccinated badgers were at least 54% (and up to 76%) less likely to test positive for TB. The same field trial found that when more than a third of the social group was vaccinated, infection risk to unvaccinated cubs reduced by 79% (Carter et al 2012 [1]).</p><p> </p><p>Both modelling in a post-cull environment in England (Smith GC &amp; Budgey R, 2021 [2]), and evidence from Ireland (Martin SW, et al. 2020 [3]), suggests that vaccination following culling should help maintain reductions in cattle TB incidence. In a trial of badger vaccination in Ireland, vaccination was found to be as effective as long-term continuous culling in lowering cattle TB incidence in four of the seven counties studied, which led to a policy change to gradually replace culling with vaccination.</p><p> </p><p>Logically, as badgers cause a proportion of cattle breakdowns and badger vaccination has been proven to reduce the disease burden in badgers, vaccination is expected to result in a reduction in cattle TB incidence where badgers are infecting cattle. However, there has been no trial in England to assess the magnitude or timing of these effects. Accordingly, we are developing a surveillance and monitoring system that will allow us to monitor levels of disease in wildlife and cattle. This will enable government and industry to be more agile in tackling the disease.</p><p> </p><p>Badger culling would remain an option where epidemiological assessment indicates that it is needed.</p><p> </p><p>[1] <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0049833" target="_blank">https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0049833</a></p><p>[2] <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248426" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248426</a>.</p><p>[3] <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2020.105004" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2020.105004</a>.</p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill question first answered 07/12/2021 12:25:35 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
	tabling member	1508 label Biography information for Sir Geoffrey Cox

1037250

	registered interest
	date	07/01/2019
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to examine whether the use of the BCG vaccine on badgers has reduced the incidence of cattle-borne bovine TB.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	205812
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/01/2019 answer text <p>Defra has funded research to model the impact of vaccination of badgers with BCG on the incidence of tuberculosis in cattle, and the Animal and Plant Health Agency has published an analysis of the effect of badger vaccination on the incidence of tuberculosis in cattle in the Badger Vaccine Deployment Project area.</p><p> </p><p>Professor Sir Charles Godfray’s TB Strategy Review report, published in 2018, considered the role of badger vaccination and the Government is currently considering its response.</p><p> </p><p>For further information, please use the following links:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0039250%20" target="_blank">https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0039250</a></p><p> </p><p><a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-analysis-of-the-effect-of-badger-vaccination-on-incidence-of-tb-in-cattle" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-analysis-of-the-effect-of-badger-vaccination-on-incidence-of-tb-in-cattle</a></p><p> </p><p><a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-strategy-for-achieving-bovine-tuberculosis-free-status-for-england-2018-review" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-strategy-for-achieving-bovine-tuberculosis-free-status-for-england-2018-review</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Camborne and Redruth answering member printed George Eustice question first answered 11/01/2019 13:14:02 answering member 3934 label Biography information for George Eustice
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

777801

	registered interest
	date	25/10/2017
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of he availability of the BCG vaccine for badgers.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	109644
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/11/2017 answer text <p>Although the timing of resumption of supplies of the licensed Badger BCG product remains uncertain, we are confident that supplies of an alternative, unlicensed BCG vaccine in 2018 will be sufficient to allow us to resume the Badger Edge Vaccination Scheme.</p> answering member constituency Camborne and Redruth answering member printed George Eustice question first answered 01/11/2017 12:48:34 answering member 3934 label Biography information for George Eustice
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

909010

	registered interest
	date	21/05/2018
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to advance the efficacy of the phage vaccine for bovine TB.
	tabling member constituency	Stroud
	tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
	uin	146079
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/05/2018 answer text <p>Defra is not aware of any research on the use of bacteriophages (viruses of bacteria) as vaccines for bovine TB. The current leading vaccine candidate is BCG which is an attenuated strain of the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis and not a bacteriophage.</p><p> </p><p>However, there is a company developing a Phage test to detect TB. I have met with the developers of this test to discuss their work and officials are engaging with them on the regulatory process they need to go through.</p> answering member constituency Camborne and Redruth answering member printed George Eustice question first answered 29/05/2018 11:23:29 answering member 3934 label Biography information for George Eustice
	tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1700847

	registered interest
	date	15/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of funding UK-based studies of the (a) use of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine to prevent bovine tuberculosis, (b) period of effectiveness of that vaccine and (c) benefits of that vaccine to the beef industry.
	tabling member constituency	Shrewsbury and Atcham
	tabling member printed	Daniel Kawczynski
	uin	21611
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/04/2024 answer text <p>Developing a deployable cattle bovine TB vaccine is one of the government’s top priorities. Field trials have been taking place in England and Wales since 2021, following a major breakthrough by government scientists in the development of a new DIVA skin test to Detect Infected among Vaccinated Animals. The aim of these trials is to gather information to enable both the CattleBCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) vaccine and the new DIVA skin test to be authorised for use and recognised internationally.</p><p> </p><p>CattleBCG stimulates a protective immune response in vaccinated cattle. In the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)’s experimental challenge model vaccinated animals display a range of protection and demonstrate a 12 month duration of immunity. The extent of disease reduction from CattleBCG depends on many factors including severity of exposure to bTB and herd immunity. Establishing the true level of protection afforded by vaccines is only possible by monitoring and assessing performance after licensing and routine use in the population vaccinated. When combined with existing disease control measures, we are confident that widespread vaccination will help to further reduce the incidence of bTB and its impact on cattle farms in England.</p><p> </p><p>We continue to work in partnership with stakeholders, alongside colleagues in Scotland and Wales, to assess how this potential new tool could be deployed in the future and provide the greatest possible benefit to our herds for generations to come.</p><p> </p><p>Information on the development of a bovine TB cattle vaccine can be found on the TB Hub at <a href="https://tbhub.co.uk/resources/frequently-asked-questions/development-of-a-deployable-tuberculosis-vaccine-for-cattle/" target="_blank">https://tbhub.co.uk/resources/frequently-asked-questions/development-of-a-deployable-tuberculosis-vaccine-for-cattle/</a>.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 22/04/2024 16:16:37 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	1566 label Biography information for Daniel Kawczynski

1231495

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2020
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the development of a vaccine for cattle to prevent the spread of bovine TB.
	tabling member constituency	Richmond Park
	tabling member printed	Sarah Olney
	uin	85092
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2020 answer text <p>Developing a TB vaccine for cattle is one of the Government’s priorities. A cattle vaccine could be a game-changer in terms of providing a strong additional tool to help eradicate bovine TB.</p><p> </p><p>In July 2020, we announced that the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) had granted permission for field trials of both the candidate Cattle BCG vaccine and the candidate skin test to differentiate infected from vaccinated animals (the DIVA skin test).</p><p> </p><p>Like other veterinary medicines, both the Cattle BCG vaccine and the DIVA skin test will need VMD marketing authorisations before they can be deployed.</p><p> </p><p>It is hoped that field trials will provide the evidence required for future marketing authorisations and for the DIVA skin test to be internationally recognised. The aim is to start field trials in 2021 and complete them in 2024.</p><p> </p><p>Provided the field trials go as hoped, and VMD considers the marketing authorisation applications satisfactory with respect to quality, safety and efficacy, the timeline envisages those authorisations being granted in 2025.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 09/09/2020 13:18:38 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4591 label Biography information for Sarah Olney